Gayle Mahoney Art Blog

I love painting colorful, shiny water-washed beach pebbles. I did this painting using Marabu Acryl Mousse - Light Grey - as a ground on a 4x4” wood panel. First I covered the panel with the Acryl Mousse using a palette knife and let it dry. I left some texture because it adds detail to the stones. I drew a random stone pattern using a pencil. (Image 1)

Image 1

I wanted the grey to show through as the midtones of the rocks, so I used Art Crayon to lay down some shadows (Image 2) and some medium tones (Image 3).

Image 2

Image 3

Then I used water and a watercolor brush to blend the shadows with the midtones and create some nice washes (Image 4).

Image 4

After that I drew in some highlights (Image 5) and blended them with the water (Image 6).

Image 5

Image 6

Moving to the background pebbles, I used Cocoa to add some shadows (Image 7) and blended with water (Image 8).

Image 7

Image 8

I also added some black to create more contrast and drama between the light and dark areas (Image 9) and blended with water (Image 10).

Image 9

Image 10

I added some details by brushing the tip of a Cocoa Art Crayon with a wet brush, picking up some color then using to paint lines and dots on some of the rocks. I also added some more highlights with a white crayon (Image 11).

Image 11

I used a palette knife to scrape away some of the art crayon to make lighter color lines in the rocks and to create some detail in the shadow areas. All done! (Image 12)

Image 12

Marabu art supplies are new to the US market so not all art supply stores carry them yet. You can request them at your local art supply store, or purchase online at Jerry's Artarama or Dick Blick website or in stores (they don't carry Acryl Mousse).Visit the Marabu's Facebook page or check out their website for more product information and demo videos.